Toy phonographic telephone



May 14, 1968 J. w. RYAN TOY PHONOGRAPHIC TELEPHONE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 18, 1964 INVENTOR. ,fww 41/ fir/m May 14, 1968 J. w. RYAN TOY PHONOGRAPHIC TELEPHONE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 18, 1964 INVFNTUR. ,7? 1/4 fimn 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 18, 1964 %wzZ INVENTOR. ray i/f/V 4T7' AA/Ei y 1968 J. w. RY 3,382,604

TOY PHONOGRAPHIC TELEPHONE Filed Nov. 18, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,382,664 TOY PHONOGRAPHIC TELEPHONE John W. Ryan, Bel Air, Calif assignor to Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Nov. 18, 1964, Ser. No. 412,180 Claims. (CI. 46-33) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toy phonographic telephone includes a housing simulating a real telephone. A battery-operated turntable rotates a record carrying suitable messages reproduced by a tone arm carrying a needle and a speaker cone assembly which is connected by a hollow tube to the receiver portion of a hand set resembling a real telephone hand set. A first button, which actuates a mechanism energizing the turntable, is accessible only after the hand set has been removed and a second button automatically deenergizes the system when the hand set is returned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The background of the invention is set forth in two parts.

Field of the invention This invention relates to a new and useful toy telephone and more particularly to a toy phonographic telephone.

Description of the prior art Toy phonographic telephones having means for starting a phonograph when the telephone receiver is lifted are known in the prior art. While generally satisfactory, such toy phonographic telephones do have certain disadvantages.

One disadvantage wi-th certain prior art toy phonographic telephones resides in the fact that the design of the phonographic unit is along conventional phonograph lines, thereby detracting from the simulation of a real telephone.

Another disadvantage resides in the fact that it is usually necessa-ry to open a lid or the like so that direct access may be had to the phonograph turntable for the purpose of changing phonograph records.

Yet, another disadvantage resides in the fact that the tone arm positioning and controlling mechanism employed in some of these prior art toy telephones is designed along conventional phonograph lines not especially adapted for usage by children in active play simulating the use of a portable telephone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of toy phonographic telephones, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and useful toy telephone not subject to the disadvantages enumerated above and having new and useful means for controlling the operation of its tone arm.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy telephone of the type described which includes a new and useful record changing means facilitating the accurate placement of records on a turntable within the toy telephone safely, efficiently and expeditiously.

Yet another object ofthe present invention is to provide a new and useful battery operated toy phonographic telephone.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and useful phonographic toy telephone having phonograph means incorporated therein which is espe- "ice cially designed for satisfactory operation as a phonograph without detracting from the simulation of a real telephone.

According to the present invention, a toy phonograp-hic telephone is provided which includes a housing simulating a real telephone. The telephone includes a battery-opergraph playing mechanism by depressing a button mounted on the telephone. The button actuates a mechanism which energizes the turntable and releases the tone arm so that it lowers onto the phonograph record. Should the chlid let the record play to the end of its message, the tone arm is automatically raised and reset. On the other band, should the child hang up the hand set before the end of the message, a reset button is depressed by the hand set was ing the tone arm control mechanism to reposition the tone arm at its starting point above the phonograph record. The tone arm conrtol mechanism also repositions the tone arm at its starting point automatically whenever an attempt is made to change records while the record in the telephone is being played. 2

The phonograph records are of the random message type and each record includes an eccentric cam or deep groove which is engaged by the phonograph needle at the end of the playing cycle to force the tone arm into engagement with a lever which actuates the tone arm reset mechanism.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements in several views.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is an exploded, perspective view of a toy telephone of the present invention, with parts broken away to show internal construction;

FIGURE '2 is an enlarged, plan view of the telephone of FIGURE 1 with its cover removed;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the device shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along the line of 55 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along the line of 66 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along line 88 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along line 99 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged, pantial cross-sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along line 11-11 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 12 is a partial, enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 1212 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 13 is a partial, enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line 1313 of FIGURE 12.

Description of the preferred emb diment Referring again to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES 1, 2 and 12, a toy telephone constituting a toy telephone constituting a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, generally designated 10, includes a housing assembly 12 comprising a base 14 and a cover 16 to which a hand set 18 is connected.

The cover or case 16 may be injection molded from a suitable material, such as a high impact styrene, and includes a top wall 19, an encompasing side wall 20 and open bottom 22. First and second upstanding, spacedapart receiver cradles 24 and 26; first, second and third apertures 28, 30 and 32; a protuberance 34 and a fingerstop support 36 are provided on the top of wall 19. The side wall 20 is provided with a U-shaped receiver-cord slot 38, a record-receiving slot 40 and an inverted, L- shaped slot 42.

A telephone dial 44 is rotatably mounted on the top wall 19 by a bolt 46 which clamps a bell assembly 48 to the dial 44 in such a manner that the bell assembly is supported subjacent the top wall 19 in a manner to be hereinafter more fully described. A dial return spring 50 has one end connected to the dial 44 and has a hook 52 formed at its other end which is engagea-ble with the aperture 30 on top wall 19 to perform its conventional function of returning the dial to its normal position where a stop member 54 provided on dial 44 engages the protuberance 34 provided on the top wall 19. After the dial 44 has been assembled on the top wall 19, a finger stop 55 may be attached to the finger stop support 36 by a rivet 56 in such a manner that the finger stop 54 extends above the dial 44.

The base 14, which may be made from an injection molded plastic, is provided with a cavity 58 in which a phonograph turntable 60 is rotatably mounted on a spindle 62 (FIGURE 9). The turntable 60 includes a peripheral groove 63 about which a belt 64 is trained for rotating the turntable 60 at a suitable speed through power supplied by an electric motor 66 (FIGURE 11) carried in a housing 67 which is secured to the base 14 by screws 68. The motor 66 is isolated by a suitable resilient motor mount 69 and pads 69a (FIGURE 11) which may, for example, be made of rubber. The isolation of the motor 66 in this manner is an important feature of the present invention because it minimizes the generation of undesirable noises and vibrations in the phonograph system.

The base 14 is also provided with a battery housing 70 having an upstanding back wall 72, a first end wall 74 and a second end wall 76. A pair of dry cell batteries 78 I are mounted in the battery housing 70 and supply power to the motor 66 through a first electrical lead 80, a second electrical lead 82, a first post 83, a third lead 84, a second post 85, a first contact 86, a second contact 87 and a fourth lead 88.

A phonograph record 90 may, in a manner and by means similar to those disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 253,192 filed Jan. 22, 1963, by the applicant herein, now Patent No. 3,165,320, be quickly and easily positioned on the turntable 60 by lifting a record changing bar 92 by its record changing knob 94- which extends to the exterior of the housing 12, as shown in FIGURE 1. The record changing bar 92 can be maintained in an elevated position by engaging the knob 94 with a shoulder 96 formed in the side wall 20 by the L- shaped slot 42. The record 90 may then be inserted through the record-receiving slot 40 and slid along the upper face 98 of the base 14 into engagement with three upstanding, record-centering plates 100 which are affixed to the base 14 and which guide the record 90 into position on the turntable 60. The record 90 may then be accurately centered on the turntable by releasing the knob 94 from shoulder 96 whereupon a leaf spring 102 biases the bar 92 downwardly passing a record-centering cup 164 (FIGURE 9) into engagement with an aperture 106 which is provided in the record 90. The centering cup 104 is mounted in an aperture 92a provided in the bar 92 and is prevented from passing therethrough by a shoulder 1040. A centering cone 108 is carried by the spring 102 and engages the cup 104 to maintain it in position in aperture 92a. The cup 104 accurately centers the record 96 on turntable 60 by engaging a counterbore 110 provided in turntable 60 with its conical end 112. The depth of penetration of the counterbore 110 by cup 104 is determined by knob 94 which engages base 14 to maintain bar 92 a suitable distance above record 90. The lifting bar and the spring 102 are both swingably and pivotally connected to the base 14 by a connecting means 114 which permits the bar 92 to be lifted vertically and then pivoted into position adjacent the shoulder 96. The connecting means 114 comprises an upstanding post 115 having a reduced-diameter portion 115a which is encompassed by an aperture 92a provided in bar 92. The spring 102 is secured to the top of post 115 by a screw 102a, whereby the bar 92 is prevented from becoming disengaged from post 115 upon being elevated at its end remote from the post 115 by knob 94.

The phonograph record 90 may be of the random message type described in Patent No. 3,017,187 and is provided with suitable messages which are conveyed to a user of the telephone 10 through a hollow, flexible tube 116 having a first open end 118 mounted adjacent suitable apertures 120 provided in a simulated receiver 122 forming an integral part of the hand set 18. The other end 124 of the tube 116 is connected to a sound pickup means indicated generally at 126 in FIGURE 2 and shown in detail in FIGURE 10. The pickup means 126 includes a case 128 which may be conveniently made from an injection molded plastic material and which includes a hollow boss 130 into which the open end 124 of tube 116 is inserted. A suitable resonator, such as a vacuum-formed plastic cone 132 to which a plastic phonograph-needle chuck 134 may be sonically welded, is mounted in the case 123. The chuck 134 carries a phonograph needle 136.which is engageable with the record 90. '1 he assembly comprising case 128, resonator 132, chuck 134 and needle 136 is mounted in a circular member 138 formed on the end 140 of a tone arm 142. The other end 144 of the tone arm 142 carries a flange or cam face 145 and a post 146 having a conical end 148 which tiltably and pivotally mounts the tone arm 142 on an upstanding boss 150 provided on the base 14, as shown in FIGURE 5.

Referring now to FIGURES 2-8, a tone arm cont-r01 mechanism, generally designated 152, is mounted above the tone arm 142 on suitable posts, such as the one shown at 154 in FIGURE 5, which are mounted on the base 14. The mechanism 152 includes a plate or deck 156 which is attached to the posts 154 by screws 158, 159 and 160.

The plate or deck 156 is provided with a first aperture 162 surrounded by a first upstanding boss 164 through which the screw passes; a second aperture 166 surrounded by a second upstanding boss 168 through which the screw 159 passes; a third aperture 170 surrounded by a boss 172; a fourth aperture 174 partially surrounded by a U-shaped upstanding guide member 176; and an elongated slot 178. The end 1811 of tone arm post 146 extends up through the slot 178 to a point above the deck 156 for limited tilting movement from the end 182 of slot 178 toward the end 184 thereof. The tone arm post 146 is normally biased toward the end 182 by a first arm 186 of a spring 188 which encompasses the boss 168 and includes a second arm 189 having a free end 190 engaging a pin 192 provided on the deck 156. When the post 146 is in its biased position, the tone arm 142 is elevated sufficiently that the needle 136 is held off the record 90. In addition, the spring arm 186 bears against post 146 with sutficient force to engage a depending lug 145a with the cam face 145 causing the tone arm 142 to swing in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG- URE 2, into engagement with a stop member 193 mounted on base 14. The tone arm 142 has sufiicient weight to cause the post 146 to lean toward the end 184 of slot 178 when the arm 186 is moved toward the end 184 by an upstanding lug 194 (FIGURE 5) provided on a swingable plate 196. The swingable plate 196 is pivotally mounted on the boss 164 and is provided with an aperture 198 which encompasses the boss 172. The plate 196 includes a first arm 200 to which the contact 87 is affixed and a second arm 202 on the end of which is mounted an upstanding pin 204. The plate 196 is provided with a beveled notch 206 which may be engaged by a beveled shoe 208 (FIGURE 8) provided on a push button mechanism 210. The lower end 212 of the push button mechanism 210 is disposed within the aperture 174 within the U-shaped guide 176. The push button 210 includes a stem 214 which extends up through the aperture 28 provided in the top wall 19 of the case 12 (FIGURE 1). When the button 210 is depressed by an operator of the telephone 10, the shoe 208 engages the beveled notch 206 causing the plate 196 to swing in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 2, to the position shown in'FIG- URE 3. The amount of movement of plate 196 in a clockwise direction is controlled by a stop member 216 which is mounted on the deck 156. The plate 196 is maintained in its FIGURE 3 position by an arm 218 provided on a swingable lever 220 which is pivotally connected to the plate 156 by a pin 222 (FIGURE 7). The lever 220 includes a leg 224 which depends through a slot 226 provided in the plate 156 and a second arm 228 which is formed integrally with the depending leg 224 in such a manner that it extends at right angles thereto to a point superjacent of, and in contact with, a lever 229 extending over the bar 92. The lever 229 is connected intermediate its ends to the underside 230 of the plate 156 by a screw 232. The end of the lever 229 which is remote from the arm 228 is connected to a stop or reset button 234 having an end 236 extending th ough an aperture 238 provided in the cradle 24 with which it is engageable by the hand set 18 when placed in position on the cradles 24 and 26. The weight of the hand-set 18 is sufiicient to depress the button 234 causing the end of the lever 229 which is engaging the arm 228 to elevate it causing the lever 220 to rotate in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 6, sufficiently for the arm 218 to become disengaged from the plate 196. This permits the plate 196 to swing in a counter-clockwise direction under the influence of a spring 240 which encompasses the boss 164 and which includes a first arm 242 and a second arm 246. The arm 242 engages an upstanding tab 248 provided on the plate 196 and the arm 246 engages the boss 172, whereby the plate 196 is biased in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in FIGURE 3. As the plate 196 swings in a counter-clockwise direction, the upstanding tab 194 moves toward the tone arm post 146 permitting the arm 186 of spring 188 to engage the post 146 moving it in slot 178 until cam face 145 engages lug 145a causing tone arm 142 to simultaneously return to an upright position within the slot 178 and rotate toward stop member 193. This elevates the tone arm 142 and moves it to a position where it is engageable by a safety hook or latch 250, as shown in FIGURE 4. The safety hook 250 includes an end 252 which extends up through a slot 254 provided in the plate 156 to a position on the upper surface 256 thereof. The end 252 includes gear teeth 258 which engage teeth 260 provided on plate 156. The teeth 258 are carried by a hub 262, as is clearly shown in FIGURES 2-5. Also, as clearly shown in FIGURES 2-5, the hub 262 is caged between triangular-shaped upstanding bosses 253. The end 252 is carried by a first arm 264 provided on a spring 266 which extends beneath a cap member 268 supported above the plate 156, by suitable means including pin 192. The spring 266 encompasses the pin 192 and includes a second arm 272 which extends into engagement with a stop pin 274 mounted on the plate 156.

The force exerted by the arms 264 and 272 biases the end 252 to the left, as viewed in FIGURE 3. When the plate 196 is in its FIGURE 2 position, the pin 204 on arm 202 engages spring arm 264. As the plate 196 moves to its FIGURE 3 position, the pin 204 moves away from arm 264 so that the end 252 is moved to the left under the influence of the arm 264. This causes the safety hook 250 to pivot in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed in FIGURE 5) out of engagement with the tone arm 142. The end 252 is moved to the right, as viewed in FIGURE 3, to rotate the safety hook 250 back into engagement with the tone arm 142 when the arm 264 of spring 266 re-engages the pin 204 at the end of travel of the plate 196 in its counter-clockwise direction. This re-engagement, of course, takes place after the arm 186 of spring 188 has moved the post 146 to its vertical position thereby elevating the tone arm 142 sufficiently that the safety hook will engage it when swung in a counter-clockwise direction by the spring arm 186. A stop member 276 is pivotally mounted on the pin 222 and depends from plate 156 through a slot 277 provided therein. The stop member 276 includes a sloping face 278 which is engaged by the tone arm 142 as it swings toward safety latch 250, thereby causing the member 276 to become elevated sufficiently to permit the tone arm 142 to pass thereunder. As the tone arm 142 passes the end 279 of member 276, the member 276 drops down so that end 279 holds tone arm 142 captive on hook 250.

Referring now to FIGURES 12 and 13, the bell assembly 48 includes a metal bell 280 which is provided with an aperture 282 and in which a governor assembly 284 is mounted. The governor 284 includes a hub portion 286 having a non-circular end 288 extending into a matching noncircular hub portion 290 provided on the dial 4 4. The bolt 46 passes through the aperture 282, and

hubs 286 and 290 and is engaged by a nut and washer assembly 292, whereby the bell assembly 48 is secured to the dial 44 for rotation thereby. The governor 284 is provided with an annular step member 294 which cooperates with the hub 290 to form bearing surfaces on the top wall 19. The governor 284 also includes a ratchet wheel 296 and an annular flywheel 298. When the bell assembly 48 is rotated by the dial 44, the ratchet wheel 296 actuates an escapement arm 300 having one end 302 which engages ratchet Wheel 296 and another end 304 which is provided with an upstanding pin 306 on which a striker means 308 is loosely mounted. The escapement arm 300 also has a hub 310 which pivotally connects the arm 300 to a depending pin 312 provided on the top wall 19. A projection or knob 314 is provided on the arm 300 and is engageable with the ratchet wheel 296 to rock the arm 300 about pin 312 when the governor 284 rotates with dial 44 and bell 280. The rocking of arm 300 causes striker means 308 to be thrown cyclically into engagement with bell 280 causing it to ring in simulation of a ringing telephone.

In use, a child may remove the hand set 18 from the cradles 24 and 26 and dial any desired number. The child may then depress the button 210 causing the shoe 208 to move the plate 196 from the position shown in FIGURE 2 to the position shown in FIGURE 3. This brings the pin 204 out of engagement with the arm 264 of the spring 266 causing the safety latch 250 to be moved from its FIGURE 4 position to its FIGURE 5 position. The moving of plate 196 by the shoe 208 also causes the upstanding lug 194 to move the arm 186 of spring 188 away from the post 146 permitting it to tilt toward the end 184 of slot 178 so that the needle 136 is lowered into engagement with the record 90. The movement of plate 196 also places the contact 87 into engagement with the contact 86 to energize the turntable 60. A suitable random message provided on record is transmitted through the needle 136, cone 132, and tube 116 into the receiver 118.

When the needle 136 reaches the end of the message provided on the record 90 by progressing inwardly toward the center thereof, the needle 136 drops into an eccentric cam or deep groove 316 which holds the needle captive, thereby forcing tone arm 142 into engagement with depending leg 224 to release the lever 220 from engagement with the plate 196, as shown in FIGURE 7 in broken lines. This releases the plate 196 so that it is free to move back to its FIGURE 2 position under the influence of spring 240. As the plate 196 moves to its FIGURE 2 position, the arm 136 of spring 188 bears against the post 146 moving it from the end 184 to the end 182 of slot 178 whereupon cam 145 engages lug 145a. This elevates the tone arm and swings it toward the stop 193 to the position shown in FIGURE 4. As the plate 196 continues to move toward its FIGURE 2 position, the pin 204 engages the arm 264 causing the safety hook or latch 250 to be swung from its FIGURE 5 position to its FIGURE 4 position under the tone arm 142.

Should the child desire to remove the record 9:) from the telephone 10 at a time when the phonograph needle 136 is in engagement with the record 90, the lifting of the bar 92 will cause the lever 229 to engage the arm 228 of lever 220 to elevate arm 218 sufiiciently to release plate 196 so that the tone arm 142 will be elevated and swung back against stop 193. The record 90 may then be removed without being damaged by needle 136.

Should the child reposition the hand set 18 on the cradles 24 and 26 before the tone arm 142 is secured by the latch 250, the hand set 18 will depress the button 234 causing the lever 229 to elevate arm 228 of lever 22G thereby releasing the plate 196. The tone arm 142 will then be automatically elevated and moved against the stop 193 where it is secured by the safety latch 250, in the manner previously described.

While the particular toy telephone herein shown and described in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and no limitations are intended to the details of construction of design herein shown other than as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy phonographic telephone including a turntable rotatably mounted in a simulated telephone having a base, a cover and a hand set, said hand set being positionable on said cover and including a simulated receiver, the combination comprising:

a phonograph tone arm rotatably mounted in said telephone adjacent said turntable;

a sound-reproducing head attached to one end of said tone arm for engagement with a record placed on said turntable;

a flexible tube connecting said sound-reproducing head to said simulated receiver;

a post attached to the other end of said tone arm, said post being tiltably and pivotally mounted on said base; and

tone arm control means mounted on said base above said tone arm for controlling the tilting and pivoting thereof, said control means including a plate having a slot provided therein, said post having an upper end extending through said slot, said control means also including movable means for moving said upper end within said slot to cause said tone arm to be elevated to a first position when said upper end is moved to one end of said slot and to be lowered onto said record when said upper end is moved to the other end of said slot; said control means also including means responsive to movement of said post to said one end of said slot to pivotally swing said tone arm about the axis of said post, to a starting position.

2. A combination as defined in claim 1 including an upper surface on said turntable which is approximately flush with the upper surface of said base and an elongated, record-receiving slot provided in said cover superjacent said base for facilitating the positioning of a phonograph record on said turntable.

3. A combination as defined in claim 2 including a record positioning bar rotatably mounted in said housing above said record, said bar including a control knob extending through said slot in said cover, said bar including record centering means and being elevatable to a position where it actuates said spring means to move said post to said one end of said slot in said control means plate.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said means responsive to movement of said post comprises cam means on said tone arm adjacent said upper end of said post, said cam means being engageable by fixed means when said upper end is moved to said one end of said slot in said plate to cause said post to pivot while it is being moved toward said one end of said slot.

5. In a toy phonographic telephone including a turntable rotatably mounted in a simulated telephone having a base, a cover and a hand set, said hand set being positionable on said cover and including a simulated receiver, the combination comprising:

(a) a phonograph tone arm rotatably mounted in said telephone adjacent said turntable;

(b) a sound-reproducing head attached to one end of said tone arm for engagement with a record placed on said turntable;

(c) a flexible tube connecting said sound-reproducing head to said simulated receiver;

(d) a post attached to the other end of said tone arm, said post being tiltably and pivotally mounted on said base; and

(e) tone arm control means mounted on said base above said tone arm for controlling the tilting and pivoting thereof, said control means comprising:

(i) a first plate mounted on said base above said tone arm, said first plate being provided with an elongated slot, said post having an upper end extending slidably through said slot;

(ii) a second plate swingably mounted on said first plate, said second plate having first and second predetermined positions;

(iii) first spring means afiixed to said firs-t plate and having an end extending into engagement with said second plate for movement thereby across said slot in said first plate for controlling the movement of said upper end within said plate slot to cause said tone arm to be elevated to a first position when said second plate is in said first predetermined position causing said upper end to be engaged by said first spring means and to be lowered onto said record when said first spring means is moved away from said upper end by movement of said second plate to said second predetermined position;

(iv) second spring means connected to said second plate for normally maintaining it in said first predetermined position; and

(v) plate actuating means connected to said second plate for swinging it to said second predetermined position, said plate actuating means including button means extending up through said cover for actuation by a user of said toy telephone to cause said second plate to move to said second predetermined position thereby moving said first spring means away from said upper end, whereby said tone arm is lowered onto said record.

6. The control mechanism defined in claim 5 including first lever means pivotally mounted on said first plate, said first lever means being swingable to a first position to engage said second plate and retain it in said second predetermined position and being swingable to a second position to release said second plate, whereby said second spring means will return said second plate to said first predetermined position, said first lever means including a depending leg which is engageable by said tone arm to move said first lever means to said second position causing said second plate to be moved to its first predetermined position, thereby causing said first spring means to elevate said tone arm.

7. The combination of claim 6 including: second lever means mounted in said telephone adjacent said first lever means, said second lever means being engageable with said first lever means to move it to said second position when said second lever means is actuated; and lever actuating means connected to said second lever means and extending up through said cover for engagement by said hand set when it is positioned on said cover to move said second lever means into engagement with said first lever means. 8. The combination of claim 7 including: hook means depending from said first plate adjacent said tone arm for engagement therewith when said tone arm is in its elevated position, said hook means being pivotally connected to said first plate; hook pivoting means mounted on the said first plate in engagement with said hook means for pivoting it into and out of engagement with said tone arm when actuated; and actuating means mounted on said second plate for controlling said hook pivoting means. 9. The combination of claim 8 including: a record centering bar pivotally mounted in said telephone above said record; and an elongated, record-receiving slot provided in said cover superjacent said base for facilitating the positioning of a phonograph record on said turntable, said bar including a knob portion extending through said record-receiving slot, said record centering bar extending beneath said second lever means, whereby said bar is engageable with said second lever means to move it into engagement with said first lever means and move it to said second position to release said second plate. 10. The combination of claim 9 including: electric motor means drivingly connected to said turntable; first electrical contact means mounted on said first plate; second electrical contact means mounted on said second plate; and electrical leads connecting said contacts to said motor and to a source of electrical current, said contacts being engageable to complete a circuit to said motor means when said second plate is swung to said second predetermined position. 11. A toy phonographic telephone, comprising: housing means; telephone hand-set means positionable on said housing means when not in use; sound-reproducing mean mounted in said housing means;

connection means connecting said sound-reproducing means to said hand-set means for transmitting recorded messages thereto;

recorded-message means connectable to said soundreproducing means for providing said recorded messages;

control means connected to said sound-reproducing means for controlling the operation thereof;

a cradle for holding said hand-set means; and

manually operable push-button means adjacent said cradle to energize said recorded-message means, means normally holding said push-button means in an open position, said cradle shielding said push button means from actuation by said hand-set means, whereby said push-button means is operable only after said hand-set means has been removed from said cradle.

12. A toy telephone as stated in claim 11 wherein said recorded-message means comprises a phonograph record having random messages provided thereon.

13. A toy telephone as stated in claim 11 including means mounted on said cradle for de-energizing said recorded-message means when said handset means is placed on said cradle.

14. A toy telephone as stated in claim 11 including simulated dialing means for said telephone.

15. A toy phonographic telephone, comprising:

telephone hand-set means;

record playing means;

means connecting said record playing means to said hand-set means for transmitting recorded messages thereto;

phonograph record means adapted to be played by said record playing means, said record means having random messages provided thereon; and

housing means for housing said record playing means,

said housing means being provided with a slot through which said phonograph record means is insertable for positioning on said record playing means, said record playing means including a tone arm and reset means for removing said tone arm from its playing position when actuated, said reset means including =bar means extending through said slot for blocking access to said record playing means, said bar means being removable from said slot for insertion of said record means therethrough, and actuating means operable by said bar means for actuating said reset means when said bar means is removed from said slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,651,508 12/1927 'Bocchino 4633 -XR 2,066,065 12/1936 Bregman 46-33 2,633,769 4/1953 Saks 46-33 KR 2,927,794 3/ 1960 Carson 274-92 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, Examiner.

S. NATTER, Assistant Examiner. 

